In a new collaborative project, funded by the British Council, Professor Stefan Doerr, Dr Rick Shakesby and Dr Emilia Urbanek (Geography), will join the team of Dr Ana Da Silva e Castro from the School of Engineering at the University of Porto , to examine the ecological and hydrological effects of prescribed fire in highly flammable eucalyptus forest stands. Portugal regularly experiences very severe wildfires in eucalyptus stands and a new policy now allows controlled fuel reduction burns to be conducted to minimise fire risk. However, little is known about the environmental effects of such burns. The first management burn is planned for October 2010.